


she wasn't the love of my life

by tamataba23



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, Happy Ending, Love Confessions, One Shot, romanogersendgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 19:16:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19979152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tamataba23/pseuds/tamataba23
Summary: Steve returns the soul stone.





	she wasn't the love of my life

**Author's Note:**

> My delusional self still thinks Steve saved Nat and here's how. Forgive my grammar and mistakes because this is my first work.

“Stop,” he says as he sees Clint and Nat fighting near the age of a cliff.  
“Steve, son of Joseph….”  
“what are you doing here?” Natasha asks, “did your mission go well?” tears have fully gathered in his eyes, he is seeing one of his best friends again, she is still alive. He draws closer.  
“Steve?” Clint asks as he sees his teary friend. Steve suddenly launches himself at Natasha Romanoff hugging her and squeezing her almost to death.  
“Steve?” she asks as she tries to hug him back.  
Both she and Clint are a bit confused.  
“did you come to help us?” Clint asks and suddenly Steve breaks down, still holding Tasha tight.  
“what’s wrong? What happened? Did someone die?” he lets go of her but his tears didn’t stop.

“I’m from the future and, and” Steve was chocking up, “I’m here to return the stone.” He finally manages to speak. He was supposed to wait for her to die and Clint to return before he showed himself and returned the Stone but then he saw her seated on the log, he saw her struggle with Clint and couldn’t just wait there. He had to do something or at least say bye to her.  
Understanding dawns on Clint, “She’s the one that dies, isn’t she?”  
He nods in confirmation.  
Natasha doesn’t even bat an eye, she asks, “well does it work? Does everyone come back? Is every one okay?”  
“Nat,” his voice is very emotional, more emotional than it’s ever been.  
“Well does it Steve?”  
“it does, everyone is back and okay but,”  
“then it's settled, I’ll just have to jump.” She is on her way back to the cliff.  
Steve reacts first, “wait”  
“what Steve we are just delaying the inevitable. Let’s just get over with this.”  
He holds her hand as she turns again. She looks back at him.  
“Nat I miss you so much already and I know you need to do this, so I, I just want to say, I will miss you a lot and that you are a hero and that if I could I would jump instead but I think that will disturb the time line and won’t help us at all.” he was rumbling.  
“don’t worry, you will have everyone else back, Bucky, Sam, tony, even if you guys aren’t the best of friends, you won’t be alone.” At the mention of Tony, Steve’s face impossibly falls even more. Nat notices.  
“Tony is gone.” He simply says  
Clint “what!”  
Steve turns to Clint and nods, “I don’t think you are supposed to know that. It happened when Thanos followed us through one of the time lines to our time line and Tony snapped him out of existence with the stones and so, “  
“so his gone?” Nat asks. Emotions are getting higher.  
“he is, he saved us all, he is in a good place.”  
A tear drops down Tasha’s eyes “I guess I will be seeing him soon.”  
Steve is super sad, Clint is deep in thought, behind Steve.

“I think it’s time I go, so everything can be normal then.”  
She walks over to Clint to hug him and say bye, before she does he says stops her, and “what happens if I die instead, will that change anything?” he asks Steve. And before he answers, she says “Clint I don’t think it works like that, my fate is already written and he,” pointing at the keeper (red skull) “said it can’t be reversed.”  
“but it hasn’t yet happened,”  
“I know, your family is back and I am sure they will be happy to see you.”  
“Nat I don’t want to lose you, you have been my best friend, saved my ass plenty of times. You have done so much good lately, it isn’t fair you die, I on the other hand have done terrible things, which I know are not forgiven.”  
“Clint stop; your family needs you.”  
“the world needs you too. You deserve it more than I do.” he replies.  
She shakes her head. “no, it doesn’t, this is my gift to the world. This is me giving the world what it needs. You have to see your kids grow, you have so much to live for.” She looked down “and I don’t, I can’t have children Clint but you have and they need their father.” They were both crying.  
“they will be ashamed of me; of what I have done.” She shakes her head again.  
“you may have made bad choices but you did it to criminals, who don’t deserve to live, you killed people who were killing the few that remained. You are a hero; your family will see that.”  
“you trying to justify me? Well it isn’t working.”  
“I did a lot worse and you know that and I need to do this.” She finally hugs him and he doesn’t argue. He just hugs her back. “I love you Clint, you have been my oldest friend and appreciate all you did for me, you helped me change the world and for that, you deserve the world. So bye enjoy your life.” She let go of him.  
“I love you too, Nat.” he says finally accepting her fate. She smiles.

She looks back at Steve he is just there waiting, dreading every minute of this but it has to go through.  
She looks at him and smiles a sad smile. “Steve, I have an idea for you. You deserve happiness more than everybody I know and I need you to do me a favour. I want you to go back in time, find Peggy and be happy, she is the love of your life and you deserve happiness.” He kisses her, stopping her from talking, Shocking all but Clint most of all. Natasha kisses him back instantly. This is a very different kiss from what they have been used to for the past 7 years. This one is different, it felt more real than the others, it was their final one, it was a good buy kiss. Sure they had done this many a time with the intent for sex and it never ruined their friendship. They were friends with benefits and both were fine with it but for her it was the perfect way to go, she thought. When they finally pulled away from each other. He said “I love you so much Nat. this is so hard.” He was crying again. She reached up to wipe a tear away.  
“I know it is, but I promise you Steve you will be happy with Peggy, and you need it. I love you so much, you have no idea. You showed me what it felt like to have a family, I am grateful and nothing will make me happier than you being the happiest.” She hugs him tighter than anything. This is where their story ends. Two people from different worlds with different backgrounds, thrown together by a hush reality for a beautiful cause. They were both lonely but became lonely together, or so they thought, with each other they were never lonely, even as avengers came and went they stuck together like a cemented house. They were the best for the world together, even as the world fell to shits and depressed them.  
The hug ended and they just smiled at each other sadly. Clint joined them.  
“I was not expecting that,”  
“it’s complicated.” Steve stated, Natasha argued, saying  
“it’s not, we were fuck buddies and you don’t need to know the details.”  
“hmmm, it certainly feels like,”  
“Clint!” Natasha warned him.  
All was quiet and it was time for it to happen.  
“I love you guys and I need you to live your best lives. No being depressed over this okay,” they didn’t answer. “okay?” she repeated. Clint said okay and Steve just nodded.  
She walked to the cliff and none of them said anything. She looked back one last time, smiled then turned to her death. 

She jumped in a free fall, feeling more peaceful than she ever did.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

she didn’t feel the ground when she opened her eyes. It was like she was floating. Was she dead? Is this what death felt like, she asked herself. She then discovered that her tummy was hurting. Next thing is she was going higher. She soon realised that she was being pulled up by a rope.  
At the top Clint and Steve both gave her a hand. When she finally was on the ground, she removes her hand again from both.  
“what the hell you guys, did you not here me.”  
“we might have a solution.” 

*************  
“according to the rules of time travel, our timeline will not be affected if you don’t die.” Clint is also confused  
“remember banner said, we make a new reality when we travel back in time. Your present becomes your past; the past becomes your future. And that future is a new timeline that doesn’t affect your previous future that you came from. So you not dying will not affect our timeline.”  
They were still both just looking at him  
“Nebula came back with another Nebula from a different time line. It didn’t even affect anything when she killed her. So I think I can take you back. And it won’t affect the timeline.”  
“but it will affect another time line and people will still be gone.”  
“oh yah that, that’s the problem.” He went to sit on the log. They were all quiet, “the must be a loophole.” They sat for a while all thinking.  
“I don’t think the is anything that can prevent this whatever happens, a timeline suffers. I can’t allow that.” She says, they are defeated again.  
“I have a solution, but you won’t like it.” Clint says  
“what?” asks Steve  
“I should be the one to die.”  
“we are trying to stop Natasha’s death not cause yours Clint.”  
“no, listen I exist in your timeline so you won’t miss me. My timeline will be okay without me; my family will be fine without me. At least I am okay with knowing a time exists with both me and my family.”  
“but if I don’t go to our timeline who will deliver the infinity stone?”  
“I thought of that too. You can send it alone. They will receive it.”

Nat suddenly has an idea or the solution altogether. “my God, we have been dumb.”  
“What?” Clint asks.  
“You are here to return the stone right?” Nat asks looking at Steve.  
“yes.” He answers looking confused.  
“You have it here right?”  
“yes its right in the brief ca…” he stops mid-way sentence, realising where Nat is going with this. “you don’t have to die again, no one has to die again.” Nat nods with tears in her eyes.  
“ammh, still confused here.” Clint states.  
“He has the stone Clint; the stone we need to get.”  
“so no one need to die for the stone?” Nat nods.  
“that makes sense.” Clint points out. “that’s a good solution. We just go back with the stone you already died for”  
“Yes no one has to die but we won’t be going to the main timeline, this will create a new timeline, which won’t change anything in the new original one.”  
“The original timeline, still won’t have you but at least a timeline exists where you are alive that’s good enough for me.” Steve states.

“Yes but another problem might arise, I am not meant to be alive during whatever happens after this, what if I mess it up and we fell to bring everyone back? Or if I just die again? Maybe it’s a bad idea, I don’t want a timeline to suffer because of me. Maybe the only solution is what fate already decided.”  
“No Nat, this could be your second chance and I will not let you give it up.” Clint contributes. “maybe you being there may actually save Tony’s life or even more people.”  
“but we don’t know that for sure, I might just cause everyone to die instead. We don’t know the outcome. He said it can’t be reversed. So maybe we shouldn’t.”

“Actually, you can come with me.” He is beaming with a smile. “help me return the stones. At least that hasn’t happened yet, meaning no timelines will be affected.”  
Nat thinks about it for a minute, so does Clint.  
“Nat his right, you won’t be messing up any time line and I will see you soon, anyway. When you return with Steve from delivering those stones.” She hugs Clint.  
“don’t get dead before I return, okay.”  
“I won’t, at least I know I will see you again.”  
“okay then its settled, you go with Steve, I will return and look sad. Hope you both have fan.” He says it with another meaning. “I’m expecting different news when you return and both of you be careful.”  
Clint goes with infinity stone which another captain America will return.  
Cap “let’s do this then.”  
“wait Steve,”  
“what?”  
“I meant it when I said you should go back to Peggy; I just want you to be happy.” He takes a deep breath and doesn’t reply.

…………………………….  
After returning the stone they part ways, Steve goes to the past, Nat returns to 2023.  
Sam “3, 2, 1.”  
Appearing back is Nat and Steve.  
Sam and Bucky are shocked and happy.  
Back at the New compound.  
Nat is confused as to how Steve appears with her.  
He explains that he was in the past for a year. Righting a few wrongs in that timeline.  
“and Peggy?”  
“I saw her by the window crying and waiting for me but then, I remembered something she told me about her life, she got the life she deserved and I did not want to intrude. I decided not to approach her at all. It was better if she just went on believing I was dead.”  
“so you are okay with not ending up with the love of your life?”  
“I also realised something else.”  
“what?” she asked and he just kissed her, it was deep and passionate and this time around it felt extremely good, it was not like the good bye kiss it was a promise kiss.  
“she wasn’t the love of my life,” he whispered in her ear.  
The reunion with the black widow was beautiful and the earth was happy again but not without its many troubles.  
Soon the camp was filled with new avenger. They missed Stark but honoured him in every way possible. 

The end.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked this one shot. i wish it ended this way, sigh.


End file.
